3 Thunder Takeaways: Russell Westbrook, Wizards Cap Off Season Sweep Of Thunder

The Thunder has played 13 games in April so far and lost them all, including Friday’s 129-109 home defeat to the Washington Wizards. It’s clear why this is so. The tanking is in full effect.

Saturday, April 24th 2021, 2:35 am

By: Nate Kotisso


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When poet T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” was published in 1922, it’s possible he wrote it with a certain NBA franchise in mind. Nearly 100 years later, April has indeed been the cruelest month for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder has played 13 games in April so far and lost them all, including Friday’s 129-109 home defeat to the Washington Wizards. It’s clear why this is so. The tanking is in full effect.

Coincidentally, Eliot did refer to a kind of thunder in the “The Waste Land.”

Here is no water but only rock
Rock and no water and the sandy road
The road winding above among the mountains
Which are mountains of rock without water
If there were water we should stop and drink
Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think
Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand
If there were only water amongst the rock
Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit
Here one can neither stand nor lie nor sit
There is not even silence in the mountains
But dry sterile thunder without rain
There is not even solitude in the mountains
But red sullen faces sneer and snarl
From doors of mudcracked houses

This is a spot-on description of what it might feel like to be a Thunder fan right now.

The franchise has experienced a wild amount of success since it moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. Plenty of playoff triumphs, an NBA Finals appearance, multiple MVP winners.

The team that hits the court these days aren’t the Thunder heroes of the past who ruled the NBA. The jerseys may still read THUNDER across the chest, but it is a dry, sterile THUNDER without the rain. Or the winning.


First Takeaway: Defiant ‘Til The End

Sports Illustrated NBA writer Chris Herring wrote an in-depth piece back in March on how the NBA’s athletic marvels, like Edmond native Blake Griffin and former Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, are aging into their 30s.

Herring correctly noted Westbrook’s ability to pile up triple-doubles, whose 28 triple-doubles are far and away the most in the NBA this season. (Westbrook currently has 13 more than MVP candidate Nikola Jokic of Denver.)

But, as Herring also mentioned, Westbrook is not attacking the painted area with the reckless abandon he once did. According to NBA.com, 54.1 percent of Westbrook’s field goal attempts as a Houston Rocket in 2019-20 were 10 feet from the basket or closer. As a Washington Wizard this season, only 44.0 percent of Westbrook’s field goal attempts have come from 10 feet from the basket or closer.

Time may be undefeated, but if you ask the 32-year-old Westbrook, he still feels like he can do it all. And then some.


Second Takeaway: Doing The Wave

It was the wave seen ‘round the world.

Friday night marked the two-year anniversary of a game-winning shot from Portland guard Damian Lillard, who calmly and brutally ended OKC’s first round playoff series in five games.

April 23, 2019 would also signal something just as significant. It was the last time Russell Westbrook put on a Thunder jersey and strolled onto a basketball court.

I wonder if he thought about that before he took the floor against his former team?

Westbrook dropped an ultra-efficient performance, scoring 37 points on 23 shot attempts, grabbing 11 rebounds and handing out 11 assists in 37 minutes. After appearing to be on the same lottery track as the Thunder, the Wizards have now won seven games in a row and sit in tenth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

The NBA is experimenting with a Play-In Tournament this season, which means the seventh through tenth-seeded teams in each conference will clash in a battle royale for the final two playoff spots next month.

A scenario with Russell Westbrook and Scott Brooks in the playoffs and the Thunder nowhere near them would be a decent but ultimately rejected premise for an episode of The Twilight Zone.


Third Takeaway: What’s In A Name?

Earlier this week, Chesapeake Energy told the Thunder that it is taking its name off Chesapeake Energy Arena as a part of the company’s restructuring plan, effective immediately.

Well, not “immediately” immediately. It’s more like “eventually.”

While the Thunder look for a new naming rights partner, the arena will still be referred to as Chesapeake Energy Arena. But which company should slap its name outside of the downtown arena?

The Oklahoman columnist Jenni Carlson came up with suggestions for the new arena name, each more brilliant than the last, so I’ve decided to throw a few suggestions into the ring, as well.

Braum’s Arena: Here’s the scoop: They could call the tunnels leading to both locker rooms the “Rocky Road Tunnels.”

OnCue Arena: The sole purpose of choosing OnCue should be to call it “the ‘Cue” for short. “Hey, where you headed tonight?” “Oh, I’m headed to the ‘Cue to watch the Thunder.”

If you’re having the ‘Peake withdrawals, the ‘Cue sounds cool as heck.

David Payne Arena: This might be a difficult sell, considering News 9’s Chief Meteorologist is a person and not a company, but he is a recognized and popular brand name.

An absolute must in the (zero percent) chance of a David Payne Arena? An in-arena trivia game during a timeout where fans must choose an actual David Payne quote said during a newscast on the big scoreboard. The trivia game could be as popular as the Kiss Cam.

Whichever direction the team goes with the new name, we’ll likely resist it at first, because it’s new, before warming up to it in our own ways.

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